1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a sensing module and a sensing method, in particular, to a sensing module and a sensing method using optical resonance structures and being adapted to sense a single molecule.
2. Description of Related Art
Fluorescence is one of the most sensitive detection and imaging tools available for determining the presence and concentration of analytes in a wide range of applications including DNA sequencing and DNA microarrays. The ability to detect weak signals is essential for assays requiring the detection of analytes at low concentration. To address this challenge, researchers have developed many methods to enhance fluorescence emission and remove the unwanted emission, thereby improving detection sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
A variety of optical electric sensor (OES) using fluorescence detection techniques have been studied for the purpose of enhancing fluorescence signal and noise reduction. For the purpose of filtering the noise, the filter between the sensor and the analytes need to be constructed with sufficient thickness, so as to provide a proper filter function. However, while the distance between the analytes and the sensor is increased by the filter, the amount of fluorescence being detected by the sensor is also reduced, and therefore the detection sensitivity of the OES is reduced. On the contrary, if the thickness of the filter is reduced so as to improve the sensitivity, the SNR of the OES will also be reduced.